Ask Dan

Q Dear Dan, You mentioned placing a copper strip around your raised beds to deter slugs. Where can I obtain it? I have a wood-sided bed of old planks and the slugs seem to hide in any crevasses. Antony Penhaul

A Try www.greengardener.co.uk, which offers a wide range of organic products and several ways of tackling slugs and snails. They have the copper strips that you are after. I suggest you combine these with a drench of nematodes to give your beds a clean start before you start sowing for the summer.

Q Hi Dan, how can I get rid of masses of lesser celandines that are infesting many areas of my garden in between plants? Is hand weeding the only way? Colin Dixon, Dorset

A Hand weeding is an option, but celandines leave behind tiny bulbils and they seed like stink in heavy ground. However, celandines are up early in the season, and go into dormancy early, so I tend to leave them where perennials are man enough to cope, as they do little harm in the long run. Smaller plants and alpines will get overwhelmed, however, so where this is a problem I suggest you dig out your treasures in early spring, clean the roots thoroughly and hold in clean ground. Spray the offending bed with Roundup (glyphosate). This is the safest of the weedkillers as it is deactivated once it touches bare soil. You may need to do this twice to get any seedlings, but the best path is always the one of least resistance and I urge you to see them for what they are - harbingers of spring.